LLEA10295U Microbiology of Fermented Food and Beverages

Volume 2013/2014
Education
MSc Programme in Food Science and Technology
MSc Programme in Animal Derived Foods
Erasmus Mundus - Agris Mundus
Content
The course will have major focus on the microorganisms involved in the processing of various fermented food and beverages. The course will deal with the taxonomy of important microorganisms such as lactic acid bacteria (LAB), Bacillus spp., yeasts and moulds including both phenotypic characteristics and molecular typing techniques for their identification. Methods for isolation including both culture and culture in-dependent techniques will be covered. This will include techniques such as DGGE, RT-PCR and high through put sequencing as well as various tools for bioinformatics. Various fermentation techniques will be introduced covering the use of starter cultures, growth yield and fermentation techniques such as back-slopping. An introduction to various fermented foods and beverages will be given including products such as cheese, bread, wine and beer as well as a number of traditional indigenous fermented foods. Focus will additionally be on microbial interactions including topics such as quorum sensing, bacteriocin formation etc.
 
Learning Outcome

The objective of the course is to give the students a thorough knowledge on the microbiology behind production of fermented food and beverages and to give the students skills within isolation and identification of microorganisms occurring in these products and enable the students to evaluate the functionalities and applications of microbial starter cultures.

Knowledge: The students will gain knowledge within microbiology in general and more specifically on the taxonomy of important groups of microorganisms identified from fermented food and beverages, microbial taxonomic systems, molecular techniques for identification and typing, microbial physiology, functionalities of different microorganisms in fermented food and beverages produced world-wide, microbial interactions and various fermentation technologies.

Skills: The students will have skills to develop procedures and plans for isolation and identification of the predominant microorganisms in fermented food and beverages i.e. lactic acid bacteria, Bacillus spp., yeasts and moulds. The students will be able to fully understand at the molecular level the behavior and interaction between various groups of microorganism and thereby take measures to ensure optimal product quality. The students will be able to understand and identify the important parameters leading to optimal product quality and food safety.

Competences: After finalizing the course the student will be able to isolate microorganisms from different types of fermented food and beverages, evaluate the composition of the microbiota, identify the predominant microorganisms by both phenotypic and genotypic methods, describe the presumed functionalities of the microorganisms and evaluate their effects in the food or beverage.

Scientific publications, compendia and text book chapters.
Qualifications corresponding to course LLEA10274.
Lectures, theoretical and laboratory practicals. The lectures will introduce issues of importance for the understanding of microbial behavior during production of fermented food and beverages. The theoretical and laboratory practicals will give the student practice on how to identify various microorganisms and how to use various methodologies within molecular biology.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Exam
  • 1
  • Lectures
  • 27
  • Practical exercises
  • 41
  • Preparation
  • 116
  • Theory exercises
  • 21
  • Total
  • 206
Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Oral examination, 20 min.
Before the examination the students will hand in a minor report based on a theoretic topic and experimental results obtained during practicals. The report will account for 25 % of the grade. An oral examination will account for 75 % of the grade. At the time of the oral examination, one question is drawn, and the examination proceeds without preparation time.
Aid
All aids allowed
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
External censorship
Several internal examiners and one external examiner
Criteria for exam assesment
Cf. Learning Outcome.